Sometimes you know a game is coming, you want it but you’re so busy you forget to read up on it or watch any YouTube videos about it. DiRT Rally was one of those games for me. I love Codemaster games and have done for many years so it stands to reason I thought I knew roughly what I would be getting when DiRT had finished installing. WRONG!

I should have read up on it before hitting the first race championship, I was dead last on numerous occasions. As a veteran racer and whilst I will never claim to be in the elite batch of current day racers I certainly know my way round a track and could feature in the top 3 most of the time. Well I just got schooled by the kings of DiRT.

I bring to your attention something I should’ve taken more notice of:

“DiRT Rally is the most authentic”

That is the first line and frankly the only line you need read. This is not some jolly crash and bash like DiRT Showdown was (the recently re release backwards compatible Dirt spin off title) this is truly learn all you can, adapt, evolve and you might win more than a cup of tea. No Mercy is the approach here and you can’t expect to be a average racer and jump in and win everything.

I found myself for just about the first time ever, using the practice laps to get to grips and eventually once I had digested the fact that this is a hard game for the average racer, I started to adapt and tweak the setup for my car one part at a time. Gradually I found it easier to grab a win but was struggling to get off the line with any speed and spent 4 or 6 laps chasing down the pack.

Stages produced a similar result with tight tracks yet cars that moved like on a bowl of jelly in a paint mixing machine.

It’s rare I find myself getting so frustrated by a game that I have to call it a day and come back to it but this was one of those.

Visually it’s finely tuned in places but lacking in others. Cut scenes portray a beautiful landscape and the cars themselves look absolutely stunning with engine details easy to see and decals looking sharp, however you normally look at the road and what’s ahead of you and for the most part it’s bland and replicated over and over. For an overall impression of where you are and the type of country etc it does achieve the goals but unlike other games in the racing genre it lacked detail in the foreground and background that sharpens up the overall experience.

Sound is great, the combination of engine roaring, gravel, dirt and other elements kicking up from the tyres, clunking metal as you clip rocks and other objects from the side of the road coupled with your co-pilot barking instructions at you every few seconds just gives that authentic feel of rallying.

There is loads to do from the career that I found particularly difficult at first until I unlocked upgrades but it did mean a bit of grinding the same championships to get money and experience.

There are also custom tournaments, online events that appear daily, weekly and monthly where you compete against other DiRT players around the world and PVP events, these are live Rally X events.

Being able to choose the pit crew and bring them along with you to build up your car and along the way you will find perks that can reduce build time among other things.

With over 60 cars to choose in 16 classes ranging from 1960’s to concepts

I found nice touches like having to repair your car within an hour, losing credits if you restart the race add to the realism somewhat preventing the arcade, crash and restart every 2 minutes. It also made me perfect my laps rather than just ploughing round and hoping to get a lucky 4 laps.

All that said though, it’s a great game if you love Rally and love a challenge, unfortunately this game will not suit the casual racer and I don’t mean to be rude but backmarkers won’t play for long as they will be backmarkers against the AI too.

Game details media brief

DiRT Rally is the most authentic and thrilling rally game ever made. It perfectly captures that white knuckle feeling of racing on the edge as you hurtle along dangerous roads at breakneck speed, knowing that one crash could irreparably harm your stage time.

Every stage tests you differently, as you race on the edge of control across snow, ice, tarmac and dirt and tackle a variety of weather types. As the car suffers attrition and stages string together, your dedicated rally team tries to keep you competitive and each rally becomes a marathon-like test of concentration and skill.

DiRT Rally includes officially licensed FIA World Rallycross content, allowing you to experience the breathless, high-speed thrills of some of the world’s fastest off-road cars as you trade paint with other drivers at some of the series’best-loved circuits, in both singleplayer and high-intensity multiplayer races.

DiRT Rally also features online league support and daily, weekly and monthly challenges that allow players to test themselves against the best drivers in the world and claim bragging rights as well as in-game currency.

From today, console and PC players will be able to enjoy substantial new additions to the game. New Classic Mini and Super 1600 series will introduce the thrills of rallycross racing from the start of the game and 21 advanced rally driving video guides will help gamers maximise their rallying performance. Players will be able to drive the vintage full gravel surface at Pikes Peak for the first time in the game and three of Colin McRae’s most iconic liveries will enable them to relive the exploits of a legendary rally champion.

The DiRT team have also added seven extra cars to the game:

Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak

Renault 5 Turbo

Renault Alpine A110

Opel Corsa Super 1600

Peugeot207 S1600

Renault Clio S1600

Mini Classic Rallycross

“We’re delighted to be able to welcome PS4 and Xbox One players to the DiRT Rally community” said Paul Coleman, Chief Games Designer “We’ve been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm for the game our fans have shown us ever since we first revealed it and today marks the realisation of our vision to bring the game to as many players as possible. Welcome on board and we hope you enjoy playing as much as we’ve enjoyed making it!”

DiRT Rally is now available on Steam, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC(DVD).

Available to buy now is the limited run DiRT Rally Legend Edition, which includes the full length feature documentary Colin McRae: Rally Legend. The film tells the full story of the rally icon that inspired the DiRT series from the man himself and charts his career from the earliest days, through to his domination of the rallying world and his involvement with the famous Codemasters games.

Also included in the console versions of the Legend Edition is the Fully Loaded MINI Pack, which unlocks and fully upgrades the MINI Cooper S from the start of the game, gives an exclusive livery for the car and provides a unique team mechanic with perks.

In the UK, the Legend Edition also includes the Fully Loaded Ford Pack, featuring the Ford Escort Mk II, exclusively at GAME while a limited edition SteelBook complete with Driver’s Guide is available for gamers buying DiRT Rally at Sainsbury’s.

10 things you might not know about DiRT Rally

We record the co driver calls live in a D-Box motion seat while the stage is being driven. This maximises the sense of speed and impact in the co driver’s voice. We even use a Stilo crash helmet and intercom system to make sure that the recording sounds as authentic as possible.

Our level design team have had their fair share of adventures while away on their research trips. They’ve trodden on tarantula nests, been bitten by hornets and have even been chased by angry Finnish farmers brandishing pitchforks.

Our vehicle artists go into so much detail when they are modelling the vehicle interiors that they even capture the hand and finger prints that are left by the vehicle owners.

We have a selection of special Daily Events that reference things we teased on social media prior to launch. Keep an eye out for #Mk2Mondays, #ThatCar and #ThrowbackThursday events.

The WWGFD? Trophy is actually a reference to one of our Community Members called Greg Flinchbaugh. When we were in the early stages of developing DiRT Rally Greg posted an awesome response when we asked “What do you like best about rally?” From that point onwards we always asked ourselves – What would Greg Flinchbaugh do?

Watch out for local wildlife crossing the road on some stages. You can see a fox in Wales, a squirrel in Finland and a moose in Sweden.

Neil Cole who does the voice over for the Rallycross spotter is actually one of the presenters of the FIA World Rallycross broadcast. He spends most of the race weekend in the spotters tower doing post race interviews.

The driver model in the game is actually Jon Tucker who worked with us as our vehicle handling consultant during the development of DiRT Rally. The co driver model is based on me because I also voice the co driver calls in game.

One of the working titles for DiRT Rally was DiRT Pulse.

If you look closely you’ll find a queue for one of the toilets in the Sweet Lamb Fan Zone in Wales. We do love queuing in Britain!